Southern California Junior Bach Festival
The 2024 Bach Branch Festival (SCJBF-Keyboard Division) will be held on Saturday, April 6, 2024 at Steinway Gallery, Pasadena.
This year the SCJBF website has been completely redesigned including a new, more streamlined way for teachers to enroll their students. Please read the PDF file included below in this article, and click on the embedded link to get to the teacher registration page.When you get to the teacher registration page, and after you create a user name (please use your email) and a password, the first thing you will encounter is payment for the website usage fee. This fee is still $25 and you must remit this payment first to be able to go forward with the student enrollment. Once you have registered and paid the $25 annual website usage fee, you may begin enrolling students at the URL listed in the PDF or available at the scjbf.org website. Parents are now part of the enrollment process, and must confirm their child’s participation to complete the student registration. There is also a new consent waiver form for parents/students and this will be embedded in the registration process.The deadline to enroll your students has been extended to Friday, March 15, 2024 at 11:59 pm.
Branch Festival Rules: Repertoire time limit for all pieces is 5 minutes. There is also an Anna Magdalena category to encourage younger students to study the music of Bach.
Please note: After the March 1st deadline repertoire cannot be changed. Any questionsabout the application procedures may be directed to klobitz@sbcglobal.net
Regional Festival: If selected, students have the option to play in the second round, at the Regionals. Students may only move forward to the Regionals based on scores received at the Branch Festival level. This year the Regional Festival will be held on Saturday,
May 11, 2024 (location to be determined). Students must play the same repertoire as at the Branch level and continue to observe the 5-minute time limit.
Complete Works Audition: This “third” round is offered for students who desire to study multiple movements from a Bach work, i.e. a prelude and fugue from The Well-Tempered Clavier, or several movements from a suite or partita (with no time limit). Please see the SCJBF online website for an exact listing of works that have been approved for the 2024 Complete Works festival.
In order to be considered for CWA teachers must check the “Complete Works”; box on the original online application.
At the Branch Bach Festival, only one movement or one prelude or one fugue needs to be performed (although multiple movements are welcome). However, at the CompleteWorks Audition, held in October 2023, a student must be prepared to perform all movements required for that work. (Please check the online listing to determine which movements are required.)
In order to be selected to play at this round, a student must be a winner at both the Branch and Regional Festivals. There is no time limit at CWA.
The SCJBF All-Branch Regional String Festival will take place on Sunday, April 14, 2024 at Westside Music Conservatory, in West Los Angeles (Brentwood).
Please continue to check scjbf.org for updates under Special Announcement. You may also email questions to Cheryl Scheidemantle, chair at cscheidemantle@polytechnic.org
The SCJBF All-Branch Regional Wind & Voice Festival will take place on Saturday, May 11, 2024 also at Westside Music Conservatory, in West Los Angeles (Brentwood). (Time TBA)
Please direct any questions to Emily An, chair, at lianmusic@yahoo.com
The SCJBF All-Branch Regional Organ Festival will take place in April-May 2024
The event is still being scheduled. Please see SCJBF.org and follow the link to “Organ Regional Festival” with more information forthcoming. The festival will be chaired by David Ball and Emma Whitten.
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MTAC Teachers may enter any student who is interested in playing the music of J. S. Bach — whether winds, strings, keyboard, or pipe organ. This annual festival offers an outstanding listening experience for the audience as well as a chance to hear a wide array of Bach pieces performed by talented students. We hope you will encourage your students to participate in the Festival to become more familiar with the music of this legendary composer.
Kristi Lobitz and Dorothy Caimano, Branch Chairs
Past Events
